UPDATE: Saks to close Tampa store

Saks Fifth Avenue will close its WestShore Plaza store in Tampa in early May, a move that will elevate the importance of the luxury chain's Sarasota store among Southwest Florida shoppers.

The pending store closing, on May 4, also means the Sarasota store — which will also be closing to make way for a new full-line, 80,000-square-foot Saks department store at the planned Mall at University Town Center in October 2014 — will be the closest store for Tampa-area shoppers.

WestShore owner Glimcher Realty Trust said Tuesday that Saks will be replaced with a prototype Dick's Sporting Goods store. Saks' Westshore store opened in 1998.

Analysts said the move is somewhat surprising.

“Tampa's International Plaza is the premiere mall of the two, and this is a sign that WestShore is having some trouble competing,” said Jeff Green, head of Phoenix-based retail consulting firm Jeff Green Partners.

“The Saks store there was obviously underperforming compared to Sarasota, but to leave the market completely — which is bigger than Sarasota — is a conundrum to me,” Green added.

Saks chairman and chief executive Steve Sadove said in a statement the decision to close the store was tied to its financial performance, and that the UTC store will “meaningfully” expand the chain's presence in Southwest Florida.

“This planned closing is in line with our strategy of using our resources in our most productive Saks Fifth Avenue stores,” Sadove said.

“We regularly assess the productivity, profitability, and potential of each of our stores and may determine that a closing is appropriate from time to time,” he added.

Saks officially announced in mid-March that its Sarasota “resort store,” in Westfield Corp.'s Southgate Mall, would shutter sometime next year in advance of the opening of University Town Center, which is being developed by Taubman Centers Inc. and Benderson Development Co.

All 105 associates employed at the Tampa store will be offered transfer opportunities to the chain's other Florida stores.